Knife Knights - Low Key (feat. Shabazz Palaces)

What this video is

Released September 14, 2018 on Sub Pop Records as the lead visual from Knife Knights' debut LP 1 Time Mirage — a project uniting Ishmael Butler (of Digable Planets / Shabazz Palaces) and Seattle producer-composer Erik Blood. The video embodies the afrofuturist experimental hip-hop underground of the late 2010s, bridging Seattle's psychedelic rap ecosystem and London's art-world music avant-garde through director…

Why it matters

Represents the critical intersection of afrofuturist hip-hop, psychedelic soul, and art-world conceptual video practice in the late 2010s underground. Knife Knights' 1 Time Mirage was described by The Wire as 'a suite of sci-fi cosmic hip-hop' and by London in Stereo as 'a spellbinding fusion of…

The director

Born Roy Chukwuemeka Nnawuchi; Nigerian-British singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and contemporary artist based in London. Known for his solo work and as co-founder of avant-garde duo Hype Williams (with Inga Copeland, 2007–2012) and hip-hop project…